International and transnational politics
The Political Science Department has great strength in the area of Transnational and International Relations, Global Political Economy, Global Studies and Regional Integration (Europe and Asia in particular) and has developed courses and research that lie at the intersection of international, transnational and national politics.
Expertise in the Department focuses on international relations in its various guises: political economy, law, politics, security, state-market relations, international organizations and regional integration.
Internationally well-known academics form the core of our specialists in this field:
- A. Claire Cutler works in the intersection of International Law and International Relations and focuses on the role of law in the global political economy, critical globalization studies, and private, non-state authority in international relations.
- Will Greaves research focuses on global politics and security, climate change and energy, Indigenous peoples, Canadian foreign policy and the circumpolar Arctic.
- Oliver Schmidtke, Jean Monnet Chair in European History and Politics, specializes in international migration, and transnational citizenship issues.
- Sarah E. Sharma researches the global political economy of environmental governance.
- Amy Verdun, Jean Monnet Chair in European Integration Studies focuses on various dimensions of European integration and comparative political economy.
- Scott Watson focuses on international security and has a particular interest in securitization, the politics of humanitarianism and the interplay between identity and conflict.
- Feng Xu researches issues in gender, identity, migration, (post)colonialism and discourses of modernity, with particular focus on China and East Asia.
This area also intersects with many of the research programs currently pursued under the umbrella of the Centre for Global Studies, whose Director, Oliver Schmidtke is a Professor within the Department. The mission of CFGS is to "advance understanding and action on major global issues by civil society, the private sector, governments, and international institutions."
Through its diverse research and international development activities, the Centre promotes collaborative policy solutions to the human and environmental challenges posed by globalization. Political Science faculty members also participate in the Program on Dispute resolution.
The UVic European Studies Program, which is an interdisciplinary program that focuses on European Integration in the widest sense of the word.The program draws on the Social Sciences, Humanities and Fine Arts, and collaborates with the three professional schools (Business, Law and Public Administration). It has taken off in recent years as an independent program and contributes to the Department's Undergraduate and MA Programs.
Students concentrating in this area will be required to take the candidacy examinations in either International Relations (for which the required field seminar will be POLI 640), or Comparative Politics (required seminar POLI 608). Most students are likely to take both. Some will choose to combine with Political Theory or CSPT.